The Secrets Within
by OpaqueEyes
Summary: After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.
1. Naruto's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

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**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Naruto: _Hatred:._**

The water rushed down the drain, becoming a deep crimson color as it descended. My blood was dark, I noticed somberly. It suited a monster like me. Narrow cuts aligned my wrist as I hung my hand over the sink's faucet. I enjoyed cutting myself; the pain of a blade entering my skin throbbed only for a few dull seconds before it drizzled out into content. Cutting myself made me feel _alive_.

I was a masochist, someone who enjoyed feeling pain. My nasty habit started years back, although I can't pinpoint the exact day. It was around then when I realized that no one cared about me, no one loved me. Nothing was ever going to change, no matter how hard I strived to gain the acknowledgement of the villagers. I was worth a nickel at the junkyard. My life was dull, bleak. I was tired of bawling my eyes out, like a little child, waiting for someone to do something to fix my damned life whenever something went wrong.

I was sick and tired. I was sick and tired of acting like a cheerful idiot all the time and being Sakura's punching bag. I was sick and tired of being ignored, ridiculed, and laughed at.

I stared at my drenched lower arm. Multiple scars and the most recent cuts marred my pale skin at that area, although the wounds were already trying to close up. The wonders of being a jinchuuriki, I suppose. "I guess it's time to stop today," I muttered to myself. I had a nasty habit of talking to myself when I was alone; it helped appease the silence, my loneliness. I turned off the tap, dried my skin, and pulled down the sleeve of my orange jumpsuit, which I made sure to keep dry.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, and it stared back. The dark lines around my dull, cerulean eyes were evidence of my sleepless nights. My sunny blonde hair—which now appeared anything but sunny—draped around my face, which was filled with sweat and stress. My lips were cracked and dryer than my jumpsuit and I licked it hurriedly to try to wet them. I looked terrible, even more so than before. How can people not notice it? How can they just learn to ignore it? It's because they don't care. They never cared.

I sighed and splashed my face with water before cautiously unlocking the door and quickly treading softly out, making sure not to step on any of the garbage the villagers "gifted" my apartment with. My place was filled with wrappers and and dirty napkins, things that didn't belong to _me_. The civilians had a nasty habit of sometimes breaking the lock on my door and trashing and vandalizing my already run-down shelter. I used to buy paint regularly to cover up their offensive vulgarities or threats or insults, but I learned that they would only do it again. I saved money by letting them use my walls as their canvas of vandalizing.

My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I am the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, making me the village pariah. I was hated—despised—because of the demon I hold back in my stomach. The day the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, so many people had died. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sister… It was my entire fault. That would explain why they call me names, mocking and ridiculing my appearance. That would explain why they keep their children away.

_"Why can't I play with him, mommy? He seems so lonely?"_

_"Akira, listen to me! No means no, okay? He's a bad boy, a demon in disguise. If you ever talk to him, he'll take off his disguise and gobble you up," the boy's mother said in a hushed whisper._

That would explain why they hit me and pushed me around.

_A few staggering men surrounded him, maliciousness sighted in their eyes, smiling at the evident fear in Naruto's trembling knees. "Aw, wook at the wittle baby!" one of them taunted. He held a beer bottle in his hand, signaling his intoxicated status._

_"Let's make him cry!" At those words, they all launched onto him at once. Naruto cried out in surprise as he was tackled by five men, all at least four times his weight. One rose his arm to inflict pain on him. In sudden panic, Naruto struggled to free himself and bit the man's arm as hard as he could, nearly breaking his front teeth. "You little bitch!" he barked, backslapping the small child, causing him to fly several feet away, hitting the ground with a thud. _

_The torture began as they found ways to torment him that he never knew possible._

I can take the glares from the villagers every time I hit the streets. I've endured the glowers from people who I've never seen before. I can continue smiling, pretending that everything's perfectly fine, feigning ignorance and obliviousness to the hatred. I can take the receipt whenever shop owners charge me three or four times the actual price. I can starve for a good week before succumbing to malnourishment. I can bear sitting on the swing alone while other kids play with their friends, running and jumping in eager glee. I can tolerate the punches and cuts that they cause as well as I can tolerate the cuts I inflict on myself. I can put up with anything.

I can put up with anything but myself. I abhor myself. I can't help but look away in revulsion at the person in the mirror, at the person at the base of the water. Why am I so weak? Why am I so filthy? I am dirt to the face of the world and I wish I could just kill myself and get it over with. The damn fox won't let me, though, always healing every wound I get with a surprising intensity. Its will to live is even stronger than my will to die.

My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that I hate myself.

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**First chapter done. The cutting scene was an excerpt from one of my fics on another fandom with bits added, removed, or changed. I was too lazy to actually start one from scratch, since I've written so many cutting scenes already. -.-**

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**Next Chapter: Uchiha Sasuke**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	2. Sasuke's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

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**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Sasuke: _Loss_:_._**

Holding five shurikens in my right hand, I shot them at the targets 100 feet away. Each and every one of them hit dead center with a satisfying 'thunk.' But that wasn't enough for me. It would never be enough. I wasn't strong enough to defeat him, no matter how much I trained, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that I was strong when I really aren't.

I kneaded chakra inside my lungs and shouted, "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" I released a gargantuan-sized fireball, about six feet in diameter, and watched it demolish the targets that I was using for accuracy training. It wasn't fair. Itachi was better than me at everything. He succeeded in creating the fireball on his first try, and the size only increased from thereon. However, in a stark contrast, it had taken me a whole week to create the damn fireball, and the size was puny when compared to his.

My stomach churned for me to take a break and my arms started to feel like they were about to fall off. It's not good enough. I trained until it was past dark. I was only satisfied when I left the training grounds, leaving behind several damaged targets, a few small craters in the ground, and many destroyed trees, blown from their roots.

My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and I am the last Uchiha, the clan that was once feared throughout all of the great nations. Now the clan is just mocked at. How could one single 13-year-old take out an entire clan of able adults? Itachi tarnished the clan's reputation, but more importantly, he tarnished my life.

_An eight-year-old Sasuke walked through the streets of the Uchiha Clan district. He had just gotten back from the academy, and couldn't wait to tell his family of how his day went and what type of things he learned. However, he noticed something peculiar about the clan. Usually, there were always at least a few people waiting outside, sweeping, or cleaning, or whatnot, greeting him whenever he passed by. However, there was no one, not even a single shadow. The clan was empty._

_"H-hello?" the young Uchiha called out. He wasn't about to admit it, but the desolation frightened him a bit. It was just like something that happened in one of the scary books that Iruka read to his class during Halloween. "Is anyone there?" He slowed down significantly, sensing something was in the air. It was a strange, distinctive smell in the air. He couldn't exactly pinpoint where it was coming from, or what it was, but in the future, he would be able to. It was the smell of blood._

_Sasuke, unnerved, dashed quickly down the streets of the Uchiha manor and hastily opened the door of his house. It reeked of the smell! "Tadaima!" he shouted. "Mother, father, aniki!" No one replied, and as he turned the corner and arrived in the living room, he soon found out why. His father's mangled body lied on the ground, Itachi's katana pierced right through him. The ANBU captain stood above his father's corpse, as his mother, bloodied and battered, knelt down a few feet away. Sasuke stared at the scene with a horrified expression._

_"Sasuke," Itachi greeted dryly, his cold, demeaning eyes seemingly penetrating into Sasuke's soul._

_"Sasuke, run!" his mother screamed out. Her head was promptly cut off, causing blood to spray the walls of the house._

_Sasuke knew that this wasn't a terrible joke on his family's part, for the blood managed to splatter on him, too. But he couldn't run. He couldn't move. His knees trembled and his feet refused to budge. "Aniki...?" he asked, shaking as he looked at his dead parents, as if willing them to piece back together and revive themselves. "Why?"_

_A smirk made its way onto Itachi's face. "For power, Sasuke. I wanted to test my powers." His fully-matured Sharingan flashed at his younger brother. "Tsukuyomi."_

_With those words, Sasuke fell into a deep, unbreakable genjutsu. While the psychological torture lasted for three days in Sasuke's mind, in the real world, only a few mere seconds passed. Sure enough, not five seconds later, Sasuke awoken from his nightmare, his tormentor holding him up by his neck. He choked and thrashed, struggling to breathe. "You've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live… My foolish otouto...if you wish to kill me, then hate me, despise me… And by all means flee, cling to your wretched life!"_

_He disappeared, leaving Sasuke alone in the dark world. For the first time in years, Uchiha Sasuke cried to himself. He cried the for loss of his clan. He cried for the loss of his family. But most importantly, he cried for the loss of the person he loved more than anything else in the world: his brother._

I don't believe him. I don't _want_ to believe him. I know that he didn't just massacre the clan for his own selfish needs. He wasn't that type of person. Even though I was always overshadowed by him, even though father never gave a me a second's glance, I loved Itachi, because I knew that even in the darkness, he would always be there for me. He always protected me, and even prioritized me over his own life. I guess I was wrong, after all.

_Power_? What the hell is power and why did it make him change so much? I knew that he had arguments and disagreements with our father, but was that enough to make him want to massacre the rest of the clan? I'll never know, now. I _want_ to know. I want to know the truth, and nothing but the damn truth if it's the last thing that I do.

My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that I don't want revenge. I just want my brother back.

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**Second chapter done. This thing took me so long to do, compared to the other ones. (I've already completed the next two chapters while thinking about what to do for this one...) And wow, writing four 1k-words chapters in a day seems to go by so quickly ever since I started writing another fic where I have to complete 6k words a day in between my summer school, band camp, and everything else...**

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**Next Chapter: Haruno Sakura**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	3. Sakura's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

* * *

**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Sakura: _Abuse_:_._**

No one had to tell me for me to guess what they thought of me. I already know. After all, my brain was the only real advantage that I have, although it was clouded by my ignorance and self-pity. I know that Ino thinks that I'm annoying and unworthy of Sasuke. I know that Naruto hates how I treat him like dirt, hitting him every chance that I get. I know that Sasuke thinks that I'm simply weak—an annoyance and hindrance. Hinata—bless her heart—glares at me behind her bangs whenever she sees me hanging out with my blonde teammate, and every time I pound him on the head.

_"She's so weak, Naruto. Why do you even like her?"_

_"Don't say that, Ino-chan. Sakura's punches make me feel alive."_

_The platinum blonde scoffed. "Alive my ass. She's such a bitch. Why do we keep pretending to be friends with her?"_

I can't help but be so harsh towards the idiot. I care for him, I really do. No one else might believe that, but I'd like to think that I'm telling the truth.

_"What do you think of Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto suddenly brought up._

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "She's a pest. A shallow, typical fan girl that only likes me because of my looks."_

_"I agree..." he trailed off, not wanting to say more._

Everyone thinks that I like Sasuke just because of his attractive appearance and dark, mysterious aura. That's not true at all. I'm not thick-headed like they think I am. Maybe when we met younger, he didn't remember me; I was just an insignificant civilian girl, after all. But I remember him. I remember every detail, because that day, the young, naive six-year-old me, experienced love for the first time.

_"Mommy, look at the fireworks!" Sakura shouted, tugging on her mother's matching, violet kimonos with a detailed cherry blossom pattern. When she looked back up at the person she expected to be her mother, a stranger was in her place. "Mommy...?" Where could her mother have possibly gone? The two had gotten separated in the enthusiastic crowd of the spring festival. "I will be brave, I will be brave, I will be brave," Sakura murmured to herself, almost like chanting a mantra. However, she already felt tears threatening to pour out from her emerald orbs._

_Suddenly, a small, warm hand grabbed hers and untangled her away from the hordes of people. "You're safe," a little boy around her age said proudly, "now that you're with me!"_

_Sakura stared at him admirably with wide, sea green eyes. "Sugoi! You're like my hero," she gushed. "Thank you," she added quickly._

_"I'm Sasuke." He puffed his chest. "Are you lost?"_

_The pinkette looked down sadly and nodded. "I wanted to look at the fireworks, but then mommy disappeared and I tried to be brave, but I was scared, because I was alone..." she ranted._

_"Well, I thought that you were very brave," Sasuke complimented. "You didn't cry like some other people would."_

_Sakura blushed. Suddenly, a familiar figure came running towards her. "Saku-chan!" her mother cried, tears in her eyes. She knelt down and embraced her child, forcing Sasuke to let go of her hand._

_"See? I told you some people would cry," Sasuke whispered into her ear when her mother released her, causing her to stifle a giggle._

_"Young lady, where did you go? I was worried sick!" her mother reprimanded._

_Sakura glanced at Sasuke, embarrassed, and quickly looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, mommy. I was really excited. I won't do it again." She looked up and added hastily, "Sasuke's my hero! He protected me from the herd of people!"_

_The said boy blushed proudly as Sakura's mother ruffled his hair. "Oh really now? I guess a thank you is in order, Sasuke-san."_

I was foolish. We were little kids; _I_ was a little kid. I didn't know what love was. My affection for Sasuke was nothing more than a puppy love, a first love, a crush, a one-sided love. He never cared for me, never even taking the time of the day to ask me if I was okay whenever I dragged myself to the team meetings, dirty and battered with dark rings under my eyes. He never looked at me in worry when bruises started magically appearing on my flesh. Hell, I can't even seem to remember the last time we spoke.

My name is Haruno Sakura, and I am a kunoichi with no special kekkei genkais or demons or clans backing me up. I am a weakling, an interference, a waste of time. I represent the unwanted and the unwanted represent me.

_"Sakura! Hurry the hell up, you little bitch!" a booming voice echoed throughout the house._

_Sakura slipped on her fingerless gloves before swallowing a lump lodged in her throat. "Y-yes, father!" she shouted back half-heartedly._

_Within ten seconds, she was downstairs, getting supplies out so that she could cook breakfast. "You're late," he stated with a dangerous look in his eyes. Sakura muttered an apology and set to work even faster. Her father sat at the end of the table, drinking coffee that she had prepared for him—black with two tablespoons of sugar, just how he always liked it: bittersweet,—reading the latest shinobi news in the papers._

_After letting the oiled pan heat up for a few minutes, she cracked an egg open and proceeded to frying it sunny-side up. Within five minutes, her father had a decently cooked breakfast of three sizzling bacon strips, eggs, and toast. She sat down anxiously at the other end of the table, waiting for her father's critique. He slowly dug into his breakfast with a fork that she prepared for him. Sakura watched him chewed, a stern, harsh look permanently plastered onto his face. "The egg is raw," he said flatly. She flinched. "Useless bitch. Can't even cook a decent meal. Why do I even keep you around?" he asked, more towards himself. She stayed quiet, staring at the spotless floor that she cleaned every day in fear of her father's wrath. "USELESS BITCH, ARE YOU MUTE NOW, TOO?"_

_"N-no, sir. Sorry, sir. It won't happen again." H__er father lunged around the table and harshly grabbed her arms. She winced, already feeling bruises appearing. "D-Dad," she cried out._

_WHACK! He had slapped her hard, causing her to fall onto the ground. She held her stinging cheek in pain, but didn't say anything further._

_"If only Shiori was still here, you murderer. She cooked the best meals, _and_ she was good in bed." The man that once was her father had kneel down on his knees, his eyes leveled with hers. "Do you know how lucky you are that I kept you instead of throwing you away like the garbage you are?" She nodded frantically. "Che, maybe it's time that you start to feel what it's like to be an adult. It's the least you can do to repent for your sins, you monster."_

_Sakura trembled and would have fallen, if she were not already on the floor. Her father left the house quickly, making her the only occupant left. That day, she had skipped the team meeting, knowing that no one would ask her about her newly formed bruises or her tear-streaked face. She spent the entire day in her room, hugging her knees, and smothering herself in the comfort of her tears._

I had once thought that my father was a demon of another level, but then I realized that he was right: _I'm_ the monster. I've killed so many lives. I deserved to be punished by him.

_"Ne, Sakura-chan," Naruto started._

_"Hmm?"_

_"Why do you hit me so much?"_

_Sakura stared at him with shocked eyes. "I only hit you when you're being stupid, idiot," she said as-a-matter-of-factly._

_Naruto scrunched his eyebrows together in distress. "But that doesn't mean you have to hit me, Sakura-chan!" he protested with a large pout on his face._

_Sakura blinked. "It doesn't?" But her father hit her because _she_ was stupid and useless, didn't he? She was simply doing what she was taught to do... Sakura didn't understand what was so wrong about that._

My name is Haruno Sakura, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that my mom died because of me.

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**Third chapter done. I was looking forward to writing this one the most. xD In fact, I finished writing this one even before Sasuke's chapter. Just two chapters and I've already gotten over 162 views. I'm sad, because I haven't gotten a SINGLE review yet, even though over 55 of those hits were of people with accounts. Come on! It's just pressing a button and typing a few words... ; - ; If you guys don't review, I'm not gonna have motivation to write, which means I'll probably update slower or stop updating at all...**

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**Next Chapter: Hatake Kakashi**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	4. Kakashi's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

* * *

**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Kakashi: _Guilt_:_._**

Thunder rumbled and cackled outside and lightning darted out from its hiding place in the gray skies. The flash of light every 20 seconds made my nerves jittery and put me on end. It was three in the morning in Konoha, and I was probably one of the only people up at this time. I sat up on my bed, not wanting to go back to sleep, where the images of my teammates still lurks around in my mind. Instead, I turned on the lights and tried to read my favorite series.

I've reread the Icha Icha series countless of times, and I even admit that I grow tired of the same pictures and words all reflecting back at me. I place Icha Icha Violence, the second book in the series, in front of me, and my eyes trailed the connection of letters and words, but my mind was nowhere near comprehending the text. I was out of it. All I can think of is the bloody, paling Uchiha Obito, whispering his last words.

_"You...you guys should leave before the boulders crush me completely," the dying Uchiha whispered, coughing up some blood. He lied in a pool of his own crimson liquid, almost drowning in it, but a smile was plastered onto his face._

_Rin grabbed his remaining hand, tears flowing down her face. "N-no! We can still save you! You can still be saved," she cried, trying to convince mostly herself. She tried to push the boulder off of him, eliciting a groan in pain. Instead, she tried to heal him instead. "Mystical Palm Technique! Mystical Palm Technique!" she shouted in desperation._

_"Give it up, Rin. We all know that I can't be saved." Kakashi watched the whole event with a guilty eye. "Hey Kakashi, I never really gave you a gift for being promoted to jounin rank. How 'bout this? I'll give you the best gift you'll ever receive: my left eye. You sure need it." A string of violent coughs racked throughout his body. "Rin, you can remove the eye from me and implant it into Kakashi, can't you?"_

_The medic nodded, tears at the brim of her eyes. "Thank you, Obito," Kakashi murmured to the dying boy-no, man. _

_"I'm really doing it, huh? I'm dying. I don't even know what to say anymore." Rin cried out his name. "Don't be sad, Rin. We all knew that we would die someday when we became ninjas. Mine just came earlier than I expected. Have...a great life, you guys," he said with a grin. With that Obito, closed his eyes and left the world._

Guilt spreads throughout me each time I lift up my hitai-ate and use the Sharingan, the eye that rightfully belongs to Obito. It was my fault that he died. If I had been stronger, faster, more dependable, then he wouldn't have died.

All I can see is the desperate, tearful—yet angry—face of Rin, his female teammate, as she left Konoha after Obito's death.

_"I know what you're thinking, Kakashi!" she shouted, tears cascading down her face. "If I hadn't been so weak, if I hadn't gotten myself captured by those Iwa-nins, then Obito wouldn't have died, and you wouldn't have lost your eye!" Kakashi was about to protest in his part, but Rin immediately shot him down, refusing to hear a word that he says. "It would be better if I left, wouldn't it? Then no one else would die. I wouldn't kill anyone anymore."_

Two weeks later, I found out that she was killed by an unknown missing-nin, but not before she killed him first.

I think back to the day my sensei—my fatherly figure—had died, sacrificing his life for the village. He entrusted his son's life with my hands, but even I refused to care for the infant.

_"Take care of him, Kakashi. He'll be something great one day, even surpassing me and his previous ancestors." With those words, the Yondaime Hokage, perhaps one of the greatest shinobi to ever have walked the lands, departed. All that remained of his legacy was a small bundle with sunny hair. The baby stared at Kakashi with wide, open eyes, revealing his beautiful cerulean orbs. _

_But Kakashi couldn't stare at the innocent baby anymore. He couldn't help but think that the baby _killed_ the only family he had left. The ANBU captain looked away from Naruto and handed him to someone else, hastily running off, before his hate and bitterness for the baby affected his actions._

My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I am a proud shinobi of Konohagakure. I was a student under the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, himself and currently wields one of the most powerful doujutsus, the Sharingan. I've copied, learned, and created over 1,000 jutsus with my Sharingan, the gift that one of my dead teammates gave to me before he passed away in my arms. I am the son of the White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, and I had watched my father commit suicide right before my eyes at the age of eight.

_A young Kakashi walked into his home after he completed his mission. "Tadaima," he said loudly. "The mission was a success." His only reply was silence. "Father?"_

_He searched the house with no avail. His journey took him to his father's room. The young boy knocked on the door. With no reply, he opened it, just to immediately regret his decision. "FATHER!" he cried. His father had hung himself off a rope hung onto a hook on the ceiling. His body was slightly swinging from side to side. "Father, father!" The boy grabbed a chair, using it to hoist himself up to his father's height, attempting to untie the well-made noose. After finally getting the rope off of him, he laid his father on the ground. _

_His neck was bruised and burned due to the rope. Shakily, Kakashi reached for his father's neck, feeling for a pulse. Nothing. His father was dead._

My name is Hatake Kakashi, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that the guilt of my loss eats at me each and every night.

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**Fourth chapter done. Yay! Thank you for the story alerts and reviews, guys. Made my day! And I've gotten 150 hits yesterday alone! So happy...**

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**Next Chapter: Hyuuga Hinata**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	5. Hinata's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

* * *

**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Hinata: _Family_:.**

I threw a jab in Hanabi's direction, forcing her to lean back. In retaliation, she spun around and grabbed my hand, still hanging in the empty air, using her body weight to slam me onto my back. I held my legs out before I hit the ground, and pushed myself back up, getting back into a defensive Juuken stance.

Hanabi dashed towards me and thrust her hands in my direction. I blocked her advances and swept her from underneath with a leg. She flipped backwards and then continued her onslaught of attacks, forcing me backwards. I struggled to keep up with her momentum, and eventually succumbed to her barrage of blows, falling onto my knees. Hanabi had her hand at my neck, signaling my defeat, a smug smirk on her face.

My father watched from a distance not too far away, an impassive look on his face. He glanced at me, and I could sense the disgust in his pallid eyes. "Despicable," he spat. "Hinata. You are weak. Even your seven-year-old sister can defeat you. How can you expect to become the clan leader? It's amazing that you even passed the genin exams." I bit my lips hard and glared at the ground, tasting the metallic blood in my mouth. "Hanabi. Your form is excellent." I glanced over at her puffed-out chest and nearly scoffed at her pompousness. "However, you cannot expect to use the same tricks on your enemies each time." She deflated instantly, causing me to feel a tad bit better about myself. "Not all of your opponents will be as weak or slow or child's play as your sister will be. You can't hope to outlast all of your opponents in a battle of endurance."

"Yes, father," Hanabi replied. With that, the two left the training grounds to have a cup of tea with each other, leaving me all alone. They didn't bother inviting the weak, little girl behind them, but it didn't matter, because I didn't want to be with them, anyways.

My name is Hyuuga Hinata, and I am the current heiress of the Hyuuga clan, the only remaining clan that claims a doujutsu. This clan has risen through power and political turmoil within the village. Within several decades, tensions has escalated far too high for me to see. The branch family members all are required to have the Hyuuga Main Family's Cursed Seal, the seal applied on all branch family members once they reach a certain age. With the seal, the main family is able to control, in a sense, all of the branch family members. I know it's wrong—it's inhumane—but I can do nothing but watch my family destroy itself from inside out.

It's been a lifelong dream of mine to become the leader of the Hyuuga clan so that I could remove all of the seals from my family members, including Neji. Neji doesn't outwardly show it, but I know that out of his two cousins, he supports me rather than Hanabi. He doesn't trust me—I don't even trust myself, with my self-esteem, and all,—but he understands that I have the better motives. It saddens me whenever I watch him train until dark to become stronger. Neji no longer talks to anyone except Hiashi whenever ordered or asked something. He never used to be like this.

_"Hinata-hime, look at those sunflowers," a four-year-old Neji pointed out._

_"It's pretty. Can we eat them?"_

_Neji smiled and picked off a small, canary-hued flower, carefully sifting it through his younger cousin's hair skillfully. _

_"Of course it's pretty. Just like your name, Hinata-hime."_

But now, he's so cold and detached towards me and everyone else. I sympathize him, though, since his father died because if me. His father, a good, kind man, died because of my father. Everything leads back to me. It's my fault, and everyone knows it.

I wish I was stronger, not just more powerful. I wish I was like Neji, who could absorb his pain and keep it inside until even he forgets about it. I wish I was as strong as Naruto, who can pretend that everything's okay and keep making other people smile, even though he's hurting inside.

_A six-year-old Hinata sobbed as the other girls taunted her and called her names. She _knew_ she was weak; they didn't have to rub it in. She wanted to scream back at them, punch them in the face, or even cut off their long, silky hair that they took so long to grow out, but she knew that she couldn't. She didn't have the guts to do it. Instead, all she could do was cry._

_"Stop it! What are you guys doing?" someone suddenly shouted._

_Everyone turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw none other than Uzumaki Naruto. "What's the dobe doing here, dunce?" Ami asked with a malicious sneer. _

_"R-r-r-run a-a-aw-way, N-narut-to-k-kun!" Hinata managed to stutter out. She knew that Naruto could probably take down Ami, Fuki, and Kasumi, but they had a lot of large boys with them today. She didn't want him to get hurt, even though she hardly knew him._

_"You guys shouldn't treat such a pretty girl like that! I'll show you guys a lesson!" he shouted, and pounced on the group of bullies. After a lot commotion and turmoil, Naruto was left dirtied and battered on a park bench not too far away from Hinata. The bullies left after seeing him badly injured, frightened that they would get caught. Hinata hastily scrambled next to him and tended to his wounds the best that a six-year-old could, wrapping up bleeding injuries with parts of her sundress._

_"W-w-why d-didn't y-you r-r-run a-away?" she whispered._

_Naruto gave her a wide, foxy grin and a thumbs up. "I can take this small bashing no problem. I'll have to take way worst than this if I want to become the Hokage. And besides," he smiled, "if I gave into them and ran away, they wouldn't know when to stop. I can't just give them what they want, you know? You have to be strong, too!" He suddenly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, all of this time, and I didn't introduce myself. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to be the next Hokage! What's your name?"_

_Hinata giggled and smiled at the young boy in admiration. "I-I-I'm i-in Iruk-k-ka's c-class w-w-with y-you. My name is Hyuuga Hinata."_

I look up to Naruto, because he showed me that I can be strong, but it's difficult when it seems like no one believes in me anymore. They all think that I'm weak, and the truth is, I am. How can I match up to their expectations when I'm so daunted by the look of frustration and disappointment in my father's eyes? How can I match up to their expectations when I'm forever stuck in my sister's shadow, which extends farther away each day, making it difficult for me to catch up.

_"What a disappointment," Hiashi muttered, sipping his tea lightly._

_"Father?" Hanabi asked, although she already knew who he was talking about._

_"Your sister. She's excessively weak—pityful, almost. I can hardly believe that she's my child."  
_

_Hinata swallowed her tears as she walked despondently back to her room, avoiding any further contact._

My name is Hyuuga Hinata, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that, more than anything else, I despise my father and sister.

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**Fifth chapter done. Yay! Hinata was a bit challenging for me; I'm not sure why... o.o Anyways, I'm so happy! I have 200 hits today and over 500 views in all. That's why I decided to thank you guys by uploading another chapter today. You guys know that I love you, right? But I demand more reviews! Over 56% of my viewers are users! If each person submitted one review each, I would have over 200 reviews by now... Even if you don't have an account, you can still submit an anonymous review! I'm starving for reviews!**

**Thank you for all of my viewers, reviewers, favorite-rs, and alert-ers:**

**Asa Usa**

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**Next Chapter: Inuzuka Kiba**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	6. Kiba's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

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**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Kiba: _Ignorance_:.**

I don't get it. What's so special about Uzumaki Naruto that makes everyone like him so much? He's just slightly above average looking, and while—to be honest,—I'm not quite the looker myself, we're both pretty evenly matched in terms of looks. We're definitely not the smartest people out there, but I never let myself rank last in the academy days; that was always his reserved spot. Our personalities are both brash and coarse, too, which annoys everyone I know. So why does he suddenly get all of this special attention? Everyone's always fussing about him these days, almost like they do with the Uchiha, which just pisses me off.

I don't want to admit it, but I'm _jealous_. I can't help but send the blonde an empty glare whenever Hinata glances at his direction or when he unintentionally brags about a new technique that he just learned. No one seems to notice me anymore. All they care about is Naruto. The idiot's always babbling away about his dream. "I'll be the next Hokage one day!" he says, and people agree with him. "I'm sure you will. You'd make a great Hokage." They don't know that _I_ want to be the Hokage, too, but how can I possibly compete with him when everyone already supports him? They don't care about me.

Naruto gets so many special privileges, almost as if he's the main character of some sort of unfair book or manga while everyone else is a supporting or minor character in the cast. Why does _he_ get to be put under the team with the last Uchiha and Sharingan Kakashi while I get stuck with someone whose only friends are bugs and Kurenai-sensei? She's strong for a female, I'll give her that, but she can't even start to match up with Kakashi. Why does _he_ get to be trained by one of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya? Why does _he_ get to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu or the Rasengan or any of those other high-ranking, forbidden jutsus?

_"How does _that_ feel, Uzumaki?" Kiba taunted, standing proudly on all fours next to his partner, Akamaru. Naruto struggled to stand back up after the pair's attack on him. _

_Naruto flashed a grin, trying to hide the pain in his face. "It feels...great. I feel alive."_

_Akamaru growled at him, and the two nodded to each other, launching an attack on the blonde again. "Gatsuuga!"_

_"Naruto-kun!" Kiba could hear Hinata's soft voice yell out in distress. He narrowed his eyes; his own teammate was cheering on Naruto._

It's not fair.

My name is Inuzuka Kiba, and I am second in line to inherit the title of the clan leader of the Inuzuka clan. There's nothing really special about me—which I hate,—except for my ninken, Akamaru. Akamaru's my trusty partner in life or death and is also my best buddy. We've been through thick and thin with each other, but sometimes, I feel like that's not enough.

Naruto gets the attention of everyone, even when he doesn't want to. He gets injured or sick, everyone fusses about him. He walks down the street, everyone's eyes are on him. Give the guy a break, I would say, but inside, I'm seething in jealousy. Green does not look good on me. The villagers look at him differently than any other child or ninja. They whisper and gossip about him, like he's their hero or something.

_Naruto, Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata strolled down the streets of Konoha together to celebrate the completion of a successful mission at Ichiraku. The two females and Naruto looked nervous and jittery, but the Inuzuka couldn't exactly place a finger on why. As their walk extended, he quickly realized why: everyone was staring at them—more specifically, at Naruto. It was like a chain of reactions, the domino effect. Naruto would keep walking, and every person in his path would stop whatever he or she was doing to stare at him. The market mothers muttered to themselves, making Kiba wonder why they were all gawking at the blonde. Even Akamaru was beginning to become unnerved._

_He walked alongside his friend and poked him softly, breaking Naruto out of his silent stupor. "Gah, uh, yeah?"_

_"Dude, why are they all staring at you?" Kiba whispered into his friend's ear, so that the civilians wouldn't hear him._

_Naruto blinked and shrugged slowly, as if searching for the correct words to say. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just that handsome and attractive," he said with a goofy smile._

_Kiba scoffed and rolled his eyes, not believing the boy for a second. The two girls smiled anxiously at their two male teammates' antics. "Don't you get uncomfortable with all of those prying eyes? I wonder what they want..."_

_Naruto shrugged again and continued looking straight ahead. Kiba could now see that he was avoiding eye contact with any of the civilians. "You get used to it..." he replied. His ocean-blue eyes dimmed to a darker shade of blue. Seeing the blonde with such sad eyes, Kiba decided to stop interrogating the poor kid. He knew that something was up, though, and Akamaru agreed with him._

What does Naruto have that I don't? I could answer that myself: he's cheerful. He's an idiot. He never knows when to give up. I'm not like that. I _can't_ be like that. Call me ignorant, but I wish that I had a cool kekkai genkai, too, or maybe a secret, evil inner self, or maybe have a hidden past that is so grueling and horrifying that everyone would want to know. I just don't feel unique enough. What's there to tell me apart from other regular kids with no clans except for Akamaru?

My name is Inuzuka Kiba, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that I'm envious of Uzumaki Naruto to the point that I hate his guts.

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**Sixth chapter done. Kiba was really difficult for me to do... I don't really like this chapter much, since I dislike writing bashing in my fanfics... Oh well, I'll have to deal with it... By the way, the fact about Kiba wanting to become Hokage is true. Wow, I wonder if he really _does_ feel bitter towards Naruto...**

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**Next Chapter: Aburame Shino**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	7. Shino's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

* * *

**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Shino: _Isolation_:.**

I flipped through my small collection of books about entomology and assorted bugs and insects. Reading and bug collecting were two of my favorite hobbies—and _only_ hobbies, for that matter. Between team meetings, missions, and training by myself, in my spare time, all I could do was read or collect new species of bugs. They filled up the holes in my schedule and made me feel less lonesome than I really was.

If I had to be honest with myself, I would much rather spend that time with a friend, or even two. I would like to do what normal friends do. They eat together, joke around together, play pranks on each other. I've never gotten that type of experience. My teammates, Kiba and Hinata—although their personalities are rough on the edges,—they are kind to me and try to sympathize and understand me. However, they don't connect with me. It's uncomfortable whenever I'm with them; I feel like the odd man out. That's my fault, though. I've rarely ever had human contact. My discomfort makes it hard for them to approach me.

My name is Aburame Shino, and I am the sole heir of the Aburame clan. Because of that, my parents make sure that I inherit the majority of their insect collection and clan techniques. The Aburame clan has a symbiotic relationship with the kikaichuu, the type of bugs that our clan members host inside ourselves. These bugs are used to fight and track at the disposal of the shinobi. However, because of this, our clan members, especially me, being the heir, aren't allowed much independence and self-expression.

_"Daddy, I keep hearing these buzzzz sounds inside me," a toddler-sized Shino stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "What are they?"_

_Aburame Shibi stared at his son. "They are kikaichuu, our clan's secret weapons. We use them to fight." His father had a distinct speaking style that wasted no words, his son adapting a similar speaking pattern at his age. "They don't mean you any harm, but you have to be very careful with them. They like to keep close to their host in warmth and darkness. They hate sudden movements and loud noises unless you control them."_

_Shino was a bright kid at his age, curious of the world and its inhabitants. "Why is that?"_

_Shibi wasn't sure how to answer his son's question, so he just worked around it. "I'll tell you when you're older. However, this is the reason that Aburames wear such thick, covering clothes and rarely show our emotions. Kikaichuu are sensitive to those feelings."_

_"So I can't be happy? Or sad? Or mad? Why is that?"_

_The older of the pair held back a flustered sigh and placed his hand over his son's chest. "This is where your heart is. Different emotions bring out different rates of heartbeats, but the loud, thudding noises startle your bugs."_

_Shibi removed his hand off the boy's chest. Shino looked at his hands—much smaller than his father's in size,—and placed his hand over his heart with a small frown. He could already tell that he wasn't going to be a very happy child._

Sometimes, when I can't seem to find any new insect species or when my reading my books become boring and sluggish to me, I remember about lunch and recess at the Ninja Academy. I was always that boy in the corner, or the boy on the swings by himself. No one wanted to walk up to me, and as much as I wanted to befriend others, my legs wouldn't permit it, nor would my bugs.

_Shino sat still on the swing, not even risking to use it, since his bugs would become unsettled. Other kids would glance at him and whisper, probably debating whether or not to invite him over to be their last member on the dodgeball team or something of that sort. But in the end, no one came, and the bell rang, signifying the end of recess. He remained alone in self-isolation._

It wasn't always my complete fault for being friendless, either.

_"Why don't you just give up on Sasuke-kun? We both know that he'll end up with me," Ami chattered with her friend, Fuki. Fuki scoffed in disbelief, an annoyed scowl on her face. "There are lots of other fish in the sea. Like, look at that boy over there," she said. It took Shino a while to realize that she was pointing at him. He tried to ignore the pair, and continued eating his homemade bento that his mother made for him. "He's kinda cute. He has that dark, mysterious aura around him, like Sasuke-kun."_

_Fuki had a horrifying look on her face and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "_Him_? He's from the Aburame clan, so he always has those icky bugs all over his body!"_

_"Seriously? Bugs? How lame and gross!" Ami agreed, and walked off in the other direction with her friend._

_Shino pretended to not care about the hurtful words that the two mouthed to each other about him, but inside, it really hurt, and it wasn't the kikaichuu, either. It wasn't his fault that he was an Aburame. He didn't ask for his family to be walking houses for bugs. But eventually, he had grew to like his insect friends. They were a part of him, both literally and figuratively. He just wished that other people could see that, too._

I blinked out of my thoughts and glanced at the clock. It was already late outside; my reminiscence distracted me for a while. I sighed, and prepared myself for bed. It was like this every day. My life was a repetitive schedule, a routine. Each day, I would wake up and train. Then I would meet with my team to spar, train, and complete missions. Lastly, I would train by myself or with my father, and then any time I have left, I would read before I go to bed. There was nothing new. I realized how much having a friend—just one—would change everything.

My name is Aburame Shino, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that I just want a friend that can understand me and like me for who I really am.

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**Seventh chapter done. I liked doing this chapter. Poor Shino... I can't wait to do Kurenai's chapter; I have a really good idea for it. Btw, thank you so much for all of the reviews, favorites, alerts, and views. And I just got archived into my first Community/C2! Yay! It's a small community, but it's still one, nonetheless. Beggars can't be choosers.**

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**Next Chapter: Yuuhi Kurenai**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	8. Kurenai's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

* * *

**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Kurenai: _Violation_:.**

**(This takes place during the group's genin days and after Naruto and Jiraiya brought Tsunade back, but for the sake of my plot, Kurenai will be pregnant with Asuma's baby long before his death. Doesn't really affect anything.)**

"Congratulations, Kurenai-san. It's a healthy baby girl," Shizune exclaimed, marking off things on her clipboard. I stared, awestruck, at the ultrasound of the life inside my still somewhat flat stomach. "You said that you've been having minor cramps and headaches lately, but those are typical symptoms of early pregnancy. Nonetheless, we'll keep checking up on you to make sure you and your baby are alright, and I'll prescribe you some medicine to ease the pain."

For a few minutes, all that could be heard was the scritch-scratching of Shizune's pencil against hard wood. The calm silence was soon interrupted as Shizune inputted her thoughts. "By the way," she suddenly said, "who's the father, if you don't mind me asking." The Godaime's apprentice grinned in thought. "It's Asuma, isn't it? All of the jounins are curious about you too, especially if the Ice Queen of Konoha is taken."

I rubbed my bare stomach unconsciously. "Y-yeah," I muttered, though making sure my doctor could still hear me. "Asuma's really ecstatic. He already bought a bunch of baby clothes and toys, even though he doesn't know whether she'll be a boy or girl. He was really disappointed that he couldn't be here today, since his team had a mission."

Shizune nodded and said, "I can tell that you two will be great parents. Has he popped the question, yet?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, though. We don't want our child to be born out of wedlock. I think he might propose soon." Although honestly, it would be much more beneficial for him if he didn't.

Shizune accepted my answer and helped me clean myself up. Afterwards, she handed me my prescription notices, and I left the hospital with a soft gnawing of guilt.

My name is Yuuhi Kurenai, and I am a jounin-ranked kunoichi of Konohagakure. I'm not very strong or powerful, I'll admit that much, but I have my specialties, too. I specialize in genjutsu and tricks of the mind. I always pride myself in my illusions, since I was one of the best genjutsu specialists in Konohagakure. Those silly illusions couldn't help me that night, though. If only I had been stronger, than I could have defended myself. Asuma wouldn't have to carry another burden on his shoulder.

_It was well past midnight in Konoha, and Kurenai was now just getting ready to walk home after a small celebration for Anko's birthday—that got out of hand, in fact. The birthday girl and the guys were passed out drunk at Anko's place, but Kurenai was still quite sober, so she decided to head home. She didn't see a single person outside as she walked along the streets, and the only things she could hear were her footsteps and the crickets chirping in the air. _

_Suddenly, a hand grabbed her violently and covered her mouth. Kurenai widened her eyes and struggled in shock, wishing that the intruder was one of her friends playing a prank on her. She thrashed under her assaulter's strong grasp, but to no avail. She cursed herself for leaving her weapon pouch at home, even if she was just going to a simple party._

_Her attacker didn't forget to bring his weapon, though. Through the darkness of the night, Kurenai couldn't see his face, but she could easily make out the glint of metal of a knife. The attacker promptly ripped apart her clothes and bandages, leaving her with a few cuts and vulnerably nude to the world. She could just imagine his malicious, lustful grin as he touched her, violated her, ruined her. Tears further blurred her diminishing vision as she continued to fight back, although her efforts were tarnished due to her tiring, bruised body._

_The next morning, Asuma found her in a dark, abandoned alley, bleeding and naked like a wilted rose._

Because I was so weak and susceptible, I was raped. My rapist—damn him to hell—left behind a present for me: I was pregnant with his child. Asuma was devastated for days. He was in a dangerous, somber mood for weeks, and no one could find out why, but he confronted me again one day.

_"Asuma!" Kurenai cried out in surprise as she saw her lover nearing her. She turned around briskly and was about to escape in a mad dash, but his tan, coarse hand firmly grasped onto her wrist. His hold was nothing like her violator's hold; his was warm and gentle, while the rapist's was violent and frantic. She tried to pull away, but his strong cling onto her forced her to turn around. Kurenai could already feel tears pricking in her eyes._

_"Kurenai," his tired, baritone voice called out her name. "We need to talk. Let's talk." He sounded so eager and scared, that Kurenai just couldn't resist but give into his demands._

_"I'm sorry," she sobbed, nearly collapsing into his arms. "If I had just been stronger, I could have protected myself."_

_"No!" Asuma shouted. "Listen to me, Kurenai. This is my fault. Where _was_ I when you were violated? I was passed out drunk on Anko's couch, that's where! While you were crying and calling out my name for me to rescue you, weren't you? Why am I such a useless boyfriend?" Asuma pulled her into an embrace promising warmth and love. Kurenai could only blubber in his chest like a little girl, wanting comfort and assurance. "I've spent long, hard weeks thinking, Kurenai. I've decided to take care of the baby. It's not just your child anymore, Nai-chan. It'll be mine, too. I'll take care of her like she was my own kin."__  
_

_Kurenai tearfully looked up into her captor's gaze. "I can't let you do that!"_

_Asuma smiled softly at her and kissed away her tears. "It'll be our little girl. She'll be a daddy's girl. She'll be my princess."_

As the weeks slowly and painfully pass by, I can't help but feel bitter at my growing stomach, though. Each time I stroked my belly, I was reminded of that painful night where I was helpless and tainted by an unknown man.

My name is Yuuhi Kurenai, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that I hate my baby, even though she's an innocent yet to be born into the cruel world.

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**Eighth chapter done. Poor Kurenai and Asuma... Why am I so cruel? Anyways, I tried not to repeat a lot of words in this chapter, but it was hard. (I often repeated 'strong,' 'violated,' 'attacker,' etc. Agh. I still hope you guys enjoyed it. And I finally reached 1k views yesterday! To be exact, I currently have 1,273 words. And only _11_ reviews. Are you kidding me? Grr... With this chapter, though, I'll have over 11k words. This calls for a celebration! -Throws virtual confetti in the air.- If you review, you'll get a virtual cake in honor of this fanfic!**

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**Next Chapter: Tenten**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	9. Tenten's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

* * *

**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Tenten: _Strength_:.**

I oiled and greased the clawed glove carefully, making sure that it was spotless as a mirror. I was using a grease rag that had seen better days, as it was grayed and tattered. My father ducked his head out from behind the counter to observe me, but he didn't say anything. We both knew that I would do a superb job, as I always did. That wasn't conceit speaking, either. I spent so many years practicing and learning by trial and error to help my father.

I am adopted by my foster father, who currently owns a weapon shop that I help run sometimes. He's kind to me, puts clothes on my back, and works to put food on the table for the both of us. It's not really a secret; my entire team knows about it, and they understand. Some other people don't know, though, because they never bothered to know. They don't ask, I won't tell. That was my own promise to myself.

My father's voice echoed through the store, forcing me to look up from my work. "I'm going to do some inventory on the new arrivals of merchandise in the back. Run the store while I'm gone, will you?"

I nodded and placed the clawed glove—which I affectionately named, like I named most of the weapons and gears that came into the shop, the Crimson Lotus—back into its display case. Then, I gave the case a bit of a shining before heading to the cash register to do my duties.

A few customers came in and exited, some restocking on kunais, shurikens, and paper bombs, some picking up ordered customized items, and some simply looking over the commodities. I was doing a few calculations when the chime above the door rang, signifying another customer. I recognized her, being one of the kunoichi my age and a frequent customer. "Konnichiwa, Kaoru-san. What brings you to my humble store?" I nearly gagged on the formalities. I didn't like Kaoru much, since she always came into the shop doing the same things in a routinely matter. First, she would great me casually and walk around the store, as if she would actually buy something. Then, she would grab a random bag of kunai and pay for it, but not before asking me about _him_.

"Konnichiwa, Tenten. I just wanted to replenish my supply of kunai." Kaoru flashed her a nervous smile, before roaming the shop, letting her eyes dart around the room. Sure as I had predicted it, five minutes later, she nearly threw a kunai pouch at me. "So," she started dramatically, "how's your genin team doing?"

I scanned the barcode on the pouch and inwardly smirked as she looked at me impatiently. I knew that she didn't really care about my genin team at all. She just wanted to know about Neji. I didn't like her, but she was still a customer, and she did spend a lot of money over the months on her kunais, so I felt like I at least owed her _that_ much for her determination. "Our team is doing great, especially with Gai-sensei helping us improving our taijutsu. His training really helped me grow, you know? Neji has improved a lot, too. He's quite proficient with his clan taijutsu, and can easily beat both Lee and me in a taijutsu-only spar."

I pretended to listen as Kaoru gushed about Neji. Soon, she left with her products, and I leaned back happily onto the counter, falling into my own daydreaming world.

My name is Tenten, and I am the Weapon's Mistress of Konoha, although I am still young and in training. My dream is to be a kunoichi as strong—no, even stronger—than Tsunade, the legendary slug princess and one of the three Sannin, is.

It sickens me whenever I look at those weak, pathetic excuses of kunoichi, the ones that blather about clothes and makeup and _boys_. They make the rest of the female ninjas look inadequate. I'll admit, Neji is cute. Attractive, even. And with the many insufferable months that I've spent with the boys, they've all really grown onto me, especially the Hyuuga. I begrudgingly admit that I have a teensy weensy crush on Hyuuga Neji. It's very small—just a speck. If you blink, you'd miss it. I hate that. I don't want to like him, because then I'd be seen as weak and too dependent, like my mother was.

I have to be strong so that I can show them all that kunoichi are in fact equal to men in terms of battle prowess. Ever since I was five I want to be a medical-nin like Tsunade for so many reasons. She saved countless of lives when everybody else gave up. I wanted to save my biological father, who passed away from heart cancer when I was nine. Heart cancer was extremely rare, incurable disease that less than 0.1% of people with cardiac tumors get. Because of the rarity, very little was known about the disease and every hospital and doctor we tried just couldn't find a cure.

_"We're sorry, Mr. Hisaryuu. We've tried every method we could, but without surgery, it's impossible to know what's wrong with your heart."_

_Tenten's mother sobbed into her __handkerchief as her husband tried to calm her down. A seven-year-old Tenten glared at the doctor. "Just watch! When I grow up, I'll be a better doctor than you ever were! I'll surpass Tsunade, the legendary Sannin, and I'll find a cure for your sickness, daddy!" she exclaimed. "So that you can play with me and buy my toys and clothes and take me places like we always do!"_

_THWACK! A hand came flying at Tenten's cheek, causing her stumble back a bit. Her mother had slapped her, she realized. Her cheek was scarlet and it stung. Tenten held her face as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. As soon as her mother realized what she had done, she cried even more, retreating back into her seat. "I'm sorry, Tenten..."_

She was so used to everything being handed to her on a silver platter, whether it was from her parents, grandparents, or husband, that it was difficult for the two of us to adapt to the harsh environment when he died. She fell into depression, but we couldn't afford to buy her medicine.

_"It'll be okay, mommy. Please don't be sad anymore. Daddy's looking down at us from heaven and he doesn't want us to be sad."_

_Her mother stared at her with angry eyes. "Don't speak to me like you understand anything! You're too childish to learn that when you die, you die, and that's the end! There's no such thing as heaven! That's a fool's tale to lessen the pain of death!"_

_Tenten recoiled in fear of her mother's harsh words. She realized that her mother was right. They were never going to be a family again. Her father and she would never go sneak outside to eat sweets again and the three of them would never go to the park to play on the swings or have a picnic again. He was gone._

She was too in love with him that she couldn't let him go even after death. I never want to get attached to someone like her, clinging on for dear life.

My name is Tenten, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that my mother, who was far too dependent of my father in the first place, committed suicide when he died from heart cancer.

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**Ninth chapter done. Gah, had to do a late update (still trying to aim for the one chapter a day thing). My friend got me addicted to an MMORPG and I totally forgot about this. Had to rush this chapter, and this chapter was difficult to write in the first place. Don't kill me! Dx By the way, I made up Tenten's last name, Hisaryuu, which means long-lasting dragon, if you ignore the bad grammar.**

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**Next Chapter: Rock Lee**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	10. Lee's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

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**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Lee: _Reject_:.**

(I know most of you don't read author's notes, but read the ones at the bottom. IMPORTANT.)

"Drop down! 300 push ups, pronto!" Gai-sensei barked at us.

I noticed Tenten and Neji cringing from the corner of my eyes, but I ignored. them. Instead, I stood up, reaching my full height, and saluted my sensei. "Yes sir!" I fell to the ground in push up position, my face directly hovering above Gai-sensei's feet, and immediately embarked on my training. Seeing my youthful enthusiasm—and not to be outdone,—my fellow teammates dropped next to me, although with a few feet of space in between ourselves. "If I cannot complete the task given to me, I will run 400 laps around Konoha! If I cannot do that, I will do 500 pull ups until an entire forest of trees are destroyed!"

I looked up briefly to see Gai-sensei's proud grin, a warm bubbling feeling rousing in my chest. "That's the spirit, Lee! If you can't do the push ups, I will do your punishments with you!"

A few tears pricked the corners of my eyes. "Gai-sensei..." I pushed myself even harder, calling out numbers while I completed push ups at an alarming rate. "47! 51! To help myself, I will kiss your shoes each time I go down! 64!" I concentrated on sensei's ninja sandals and allowed my lips to make contact with them a few times before Gai quickly pulled away.

"...That's okay, Lee. I know you can finish them even without motivation..." Neji and Tenten looked at me incredulously and disgustedly. I stared back at them with pursed lips. "And you two!" his voice boomed. "What are you staring at? You aren't going to be done by sundown at this rate!"

Tenten scoffed, but continued to do her push ups and Neji struggled to keep a cool, stoic face on as he did the same. Sweat already began to pour down my face. It was times like this when I disliked my jade-hued jumpsuit. Sure, it was comfortable, flexible, and fit for kings, but the material clung to skin and made it increasingly hot. But something like that wouldn't put me down. Gai-sensei never gave up on his shinobi gear, and I won't either.

My name is Rock Lee, and I am known as the Beautiful Green Wild Beast of Konoha, alongside my jounin sensei, Maito Gai, the Sublime Green Beast of Prey. I am the only ninja known to have past the genin exams without having a single score above zero in the ninjutsu and genjutsu portions of the test. It's a well-known fact throughout the shinobi nations that I was born unable to use chakra due to my chakra coils being too overdeveloped and expanded.

_"You see that kid?" a slightly chubby boy whispered to his friend in the sandbox. He pointed straight at a 12-year-old Rock Lee, making it impossible for Lee to not notice, however oblivious he is. "He failed the academy tests for the second time last week. Can you believe it? What an idiot!" Lee tried to ease down his disappointed frown as he sat dejectedly on a swing, swaying slightly from side to side. This swing was the same swing that Naruto and Shino often desolated themselves at. Perhaps it called to loners and losers like himself. Maybe it called to rejects like himself._

_Suddenly, a warm, firm hand patted Lee's shoulder, almost comfortingly. Startled, he leaped off his swing and placed himself in a makeshift fighting position, a determined look on his face. The owner of the hand chuckled, revealing himself to be a young man in his mad 20's wearing a green spandex jumpsuit. He had lots of orange warmers (which were really weights, as Lee later learned) and bandages. His most prominent features were his bowl cut and glistening, white teeth that showed when he grinned. "Whoa there! You have great reflexes; I applaud you." Lee almost smiled proudly, but he didn't let his guard down. "My name is Maito Gai. After what I've heard and seen about you, the Hokage and I have decided to allow you to pass the Genin exams."  
_

_Rock Lee shot up his eyebrows. "W-what?" He hoped that the mysterious, odd-looking, yet environmental man wasn't just playing around with him. Being a shinobi was his life-long dream. He was tired of admiring them from afar as they hopped from rooftop to rooftop. He was sick of hearing bedtime stories about the legendary ninjas by the orphanage patron. He wanted to __experience being a ninja. Lee couldn't exactly put a finger on the feeling, but it was exhilarating at times._

_"Yeah, you heard right! I've decided that you would make a great taijutsu specialist, like I am. You can't mold chakra, so it's the best alternative you can get. I can tell that you'll be a natural at it, too. So...do you accept my offer?"_

_Lee rapidly nodded his head, eager to please the elder of the two. His dream was coming true! "But heed my warning," Gai said somberly. "This will not be a breeze. You don't become legend simply overnight. Power and strength and knowledge all come through _hard work_ and _practice_ and a little bit of determination helps too."  
_

_Lee listened to his new sensei and took careful note of every little thing he said, storing them for future use. As he walked back to the orphanage that day, his heart felt much lighter, but at the same time, a little bit heavier. His new sensei, Maito Gai. He seemed a tad bit familiar, but Lee couldn't exactly pinpoint where he'd seen him. As more Lee spent more time with his Genin team, the memories flew back at him. He knew why Gai seemed familiar. He remembered.  
_

Gai-sensei has impacted my life to a degree that I cannot sum up. He is my role model, my one source of admiration and idolization. I see his faults, and I accept them. He has taught me so much in the few months that I've known him.

I don't blame him anymore. At first I did, but not anymore. I understand why he did what he did. He was young and even God makes mistakes. I forgive him, and I'll treasure every moment that I can get with him.

My name is Rock Lee, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that I remember the exact moment when my father, Maito Gai, looked at me with solemn eyes as he abandoned me at the age of four at the doorsteps of Konoha's orphanage.

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**Don't worry guys, I'm alive. Don't kill me, or else I won't be able to update! Anyways, my family and I went on a week-long vacation and just got back yesterday. We had no wi-fi or computer access. (How did I survive?) ; - ; Anyways, I have to go back to summer school to finish my extra credit plus my summer reading assignments, so I won't update as fast as before. At the end of each chapter, I'll request a number of reviews and once that quantity is fulfilled, I'll upload a new fic. :3 **

**POLL TIME! I'm planning to make a multi-chaptered sequel (or more) for this story. Basically, the sequel has an actual plot (with each team member finding out each other's secrets), action, character development (hopefully), and more. However, this only applies for ONE team, Team Seven as of now. If that sequel becomes successful, I might do another team. ****Vote via review or profile poll to pick the next team I should do for one of my sequels. **Btw, special thanks to rockmusica426 for giving me some ideas for this. (:

**Which team (besides Team Seven) should I do for my sequel after Team Seven?**

**1. Team Kurenai (Kiba, Hinata, Shino)**

**2. Team Gai (Rock Lee, Neji, Tenten)**

**3. Team Asuma (Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji)**

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**Next Chapter: Hyuuga Neji  
Review Counter to Update: 15 (so two to go...)**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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	11. Neji's Secret

**A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.**

* * *

**After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.**

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**.:The Secrets Within:.**

**.:Neji: _Perfection_:.**

The Hyuuga dinner hall was tightly packed and filled with small murmurs of chatter. The participants mainly included the Hyuuga main branch, a few branch members as bodyguards, and several special guests. I was one of the "bodyguards" for the main family. None of the branch members were allowed to sit, though. We had to stand behind our designated person and onlook the celebration. Ironically, I was bound by birth to protect my younger cousin, Hinata.

Hiashi stood up silently, signalling the commencing of the banquet. Almost instantaneously, the clamor died down. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here on this special night." It was hard to spot his thankfulness with his typical Hyuuga facade, but I wasn't one to judge. "Today is the becoming-of-age for my eldest, beloved daughter, Hinata, the clan heiress. Today, she turns 13. Today, she becomes a woman. And more importantly, today, she becomes a true, proud kunoicji of the Hyuuga clan."

There was a chorus of light, polite applause. I stared at the back of Hinata's head. She was nervous-that much I can tell,-but somehow, her soft, abashed voice still echoed throughout the emoty Hyuuga corridors. "T-thank y-you, everyone. I hope t-to grow stronger a-and make my c-clan proud as the future clan l-leader." Her voice was firm and resolute and she completed voicing her thanks with minimal incoherent stuttering. I was dully impressed. Hiashi then spoke a few more words before the banquet resumed.

I hated this day. On this day, my hate for the Hyuuga main family members increased by ten-fold. I despised Hiashi's guts. More than that, I loathed Hinata's guts, even though she was an innocent bystander, a victim.

My name is Hyuuga Neji, and I am one of the many tormented branch members of the Hyuuga clan.

On this exact day ten years ago, the clan heiress, my cousin Hinata, was abducted by two Kumo-nins. They were killed by the clan leader, but Kumogakure saw this as a breech in the treaty between Konoha and Kumo, so they demanded for the life of Hiashi. My father died in his stead. It wasn't fair. The two twins were born minutes apart, but those few minutes were all that set them apart. One was destined for greatness and one was destined for a life of servitude.

It was all Hinata's fault, for being so weak and vulnerable. _She was three. What could she have possibly done? _Anything. She could have done anything to not have gotten caught. If I were in her place, I would never had gotten kidnapped._ And where were_ you_? Where were you when she was abducted? Where were you when she was sobbing and struggling fearfully inside a mesh, airtight bag? Where were _you_ when your father died? _I had no answer to the voice in my head, because I knew that it was true. It was entirely my fault that my father had to sacrifice himself for the sake of the clan. I couldn't blame anyoneelse. I was weak and helpless and useless. Most of all, I was imperfect.

_"Neji..." Hiashi started soberly, almost comfortingly._

_Neji was four at the time, but he still knew that something was wrong by his uncharacteristically sad tone of voice. Hiashi never paid him any heed on a regular day, moreover call him up directly._

_"Hiashi-sama," he greeted, inwardly berating himself for nearly forgetting the title of respect. "Hinata is safe, sir. She's playing on the swings on the playground." Neji wished that he could join his sweet cousin. She was always alone, always getting picked on, but he knew he couldn't intervene, or else he would be yelled out. Recently, she seemed rather more fidgety than usual and avoided looking at him in the eye. Neji wondered if it was something he said._

_"I know." After a moment, the clan leader added, "I have others watching her, like Kou, a perfectly able jounin, unlike yourself. You can't possibly expect that a four-year-old boy is the only protection I provide my daughter."_

_Neji looked down and gritted his teeth in humiliation. "No, sir," he mumbled. He knew that Hiashi's words were meant to show him how disposable he was. "So why did you call me here, then?"_

_There was a moment of strained silence. After a few minutes, Hiashi spoke up. "I fear that Hizashi has..." he drifted off._

_"What happened to my father?" Neji yelled, not caring that he rudely interrupted the older man. _

_Surprising, he didn't chide Neji. Instead, Hiashi opened his mouth and spoke a few words. "I'm afraid that your father passed away..."_

_Neji's world came crashing down with those words._

I hated the main family. I hated the Hyuuga Main Family's Juinjutsu, trapping me like a bird in a cage.

_A five-year-old Neji and other branch kids around his age stood in a single formation, heads high and backs straight. "You guys are probably wondering why I brought you here," Hoteto said. He was the "trainer" of sorts for younger branch members. Two main family members dragged in a man into the room. He looked hopeless in a way, and Neji could tell that he was a branch member, judging by the way his hitai-ate covered his forehead completely—the Hyuuga Souke no Juinjutsu._

_"This pitiful man here refused to accompany his assigned main family member on a high-ranked mission. Anything you want to say to these kids?"_

_"Don't obey them like mindless slaves! You can sto—" Before he could further his sentence, Hoteto activated the seal, sending a pulse of electricity to the man's forehead. He writhed and screamed in agony before falling to the ground, his body still trembling in aftershock. The branch family present in the room on-looked with wide eyes eyes, unable to utter a sound._

_"This is what happens when you disobey the main family. Don't worry; he's not dead. He just...won't feel very good for a long time. Did everyone see that clearly, or do I need to give you another demonstration?" A hungry, malicious grin was plastered on Hoteto's face._

_Fear bubbled and churned inside Neji's stomach. The kids swiftly shook their heads to show a "negative." _

_"I can't hear you!" he singsonged. _

_"No, sir!" they shouted._

_"I thought as much. You two," he pointed at two branch members, "carry this _trash_ outside." _

_As they all left, Neji remained in the room. Was this what happened to his father? He didn't want to die for Hiashi, so the forced him—tortured him—until he would. They killed him._

Our futures were chosen for us before we were born. One can call it destiny. One can call it fate. I call it unfair. No matter how many infuriating hours I spend training, perfection is too far from my grasp. Oly with perfection—total power and domination—would be ablle to overpass the boundaries of "destiny" and "fate."

Some will think me foolish, but I believe that perfection will fuel my dreams.

My name is Hyuuga Neji, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that I strive to be a God, and only then will I be free from the Hyuuga clan, from destiny, and from myself.

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**Poor Neji's going insane, talking to that voice inside his head xD. Btw, Hyuuga Kou is an actual character and was temporarily Hinata's concierge and bodyguard. Hyuuga Hoteto is a real character, too. See? I do my research. :3**

**POLL TIME! I'm planning to make a multi-chaptered sequel (or more) for this story. Basically, the sequel has an actual plot (with each team member finding out each other's secrets), action, character development (hopefully), and more. However, this only applies for ONE team, Team Seven as of now. If that sequel becomes successful, I might do another team. ****Vote via review or profile poll to pick the next team I should do for one of my sequels. **Btw, special thanks to rockmusica426 for giving me some ideas for this. (:

**Which team (besides Team Seven) should I do for my sequel after Team Seven?**

**1. Team Kurenai (Kiba, Hinata, Shino)**

**2. Team Gai (Rock Lee, Neji, Tenten)**

**3. Team Asuma (Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji)**

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**Next Chapter: Maito Gai  
Review Counter to Update: 20 (so three to go...)**

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**You know you want to click it...**

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